Xu Guangqi’s treatise on agriculture

Introduction

In Ancient China, the imperial examinations for government officials inexplicably involved writing poetry. The explanation is likely that all these exams were really testing the applicants’ encryption skills.

One late example of Chinese encryption may be Xu Guangqi’s 農政全書 nóngzhèng quánshū “treatise on agriculture”. It starts with the myth about how the Chinese god of agriculture taught the people how to plough, but makes no real point about it. Under the hood, it seems to be yet another treatise about spookery, with the 神農氏 shénnóngshì “god of agriculture” being misused as a spooky pun-encryption for the 甡農事 shēn nóngshì “multitudes of peasants” who are being deceived.

This treatise doesn’t come from a nobody: Wikipedia explicitly states that “Guangqi’s branch of the Xus were not related to those who had passed the imperial examinations”. But as a reader pointed out, Xu Guangxi later held the post of Deputy Senior Grand Secretary, explained as “deputy premier for the imperial cabinet” — a very high rank, surely unattainable without family connections. So as usual, his rags-to-riches biography is likely a fairytale, and he actually was related to those Xus who held imperial posts. They were probably spook-aristocrats in their own right. I don’t know if it means anything, but the name Xu Guangxi even puns with 侐關係 xù guānxì “silent relations”.

Xu Guangqi lived in the 16th century, when he was collaborating with the Jesuits, likely to prepare China for joint looting with European spook families. He is thus a late example of Chinese pun-encryption and not proof for early Chinese spookery. He does cite many older works though, so I do not think that the Jesuits brought the concept of spookery to China, or the Phoenicians, or “ze Jews”. Rather, the ruling elites of all great civilizations had each developed their own version of spookery or proto-spookery. Whenever they then encountered each other, the spooky tendrils would likely connect seamlessly, to form the global mesh we have today. I therefore predict that we will also find homonym-encryption in more ancient Chinese texts. They will be harder to de-pun though, as the pronunciation may have changed considerably, and with it the homonymity.

One last note: Chinese language consists of very few phonemes, so it’s full of natural homonyms. My decryption is therefore also not watertight, as there are so many possibilities. It is merely a starting point and proof of concept that pun-encryption existed in many ancient cultures.

How to read the interlinear puns

• Each word is a block; each verse is a paragraph of little blocks. Blocks & text are always read left-to-right, as in English.
• Possible pun meaning is on light red at the top, with hyperlinked pun vocabulary just below.
• Original text is in the center.
• Official meaning is on light green at the bottom, with hyperlinked official vocabulary just above.
• Pun vocabulary is in red, whenever the meaning differs.
• Pun decryption is not an exact science. Please read the introduction, the interchangeability rules, and judge yourself whether I got it right.
• An encrypted spook message does not automatically mean that the literal meaning is wrong, or that the encrypted meaning is the truth. Still, religious readers should proceed with care.

The god of agriculture

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The multitudes of peasants甡 shēn multitude 農事 nóngshì farming task shen nong shi   神農氏神農氏 shénnóngshì Farmer God The god of agricultureare managed & governed御 yù manage, govern 馭 yù control yue   曰曰 yuē say told[by] hiding & bending the truth,匽 yǎn hide, repress, bend 諦 dì truth yan di   炎帝炎帝 yándì Flame Emperors [the] flame emperor,[and] through以 yǐ by means of yi   以以 yǐ by means of [to have] throughconfusion惑 huò confuse, puzzled huo   火火 huǒ fire firethe people民 mín people 冥 míng stupid ming   名名 míng name nominateare controlled.管 guǎn control, manage guan   官官 guān government official government officials.Wear著 zhuó wear (clothes), use, apply zhuo   斫斫 zhuó chop, hack Choppeda curtain [veil]幙 mù curtain, screen mu   木木 mù wood woodas為 wéi as, by, become wei   為為 wéi as, by, become becamethe self,私 sī personal 似 sì seem, appear, resemble si   耜耜 sì plow, plowshare a plowshare,the resembling柔 róu flexible 若 ruò seem, like, as, if rou   揉揉 róu knead, rub crushed [??]curtain [veil]幙 mù curtain, screen mu   木木 mù wood woodbecomes為 wéi as, by, become wei   為為 wéi as, by, become becamea semblance,類 lèi similar, like, resemble lei   耒耒 lěi plow a plow,[for] resembling類 lèi similar, like, resemble lei   耒耒 lěi plow the plowthe imbeciles / slaves懦 nuò imbecile 奴 nú slave nou   耨耨 nòu hoe, weed for hoeingit之 zhī him, it zhi   之之 zhī him, it itcan be used,用 yòng use, employ yong   用用 yòng use, employ could be used,by以 yǐ by means of yi   以以 yǐ by means of bypretending [to be]矯 jiǎo pretend, feign jiao   教教 jiāo teach teaching [this]an everyman.萬人 wànrén everyman wan ren   萬人萬人 wànrén ten thousand people to thousands of people.One begins始 shǐ begin, start shi   始始 shǐ begin, start It beganby pretending矯 jiǎo pretend, feign jiao   教教 jiāo teach by teachingto be honest,耿 gěng honest, upright geng   耕耕 gēng plow, till to plow,because故 gù reason, cause gu   故故 gù reason, cause becausethis is desired恏 hào desire 好 hǎo good hao   號號 hào mark, sign it was the symbol [?][by] the multitudes of peasants.甡 shēn multitude 農事 nóngshì farming task shen nong shi   神農氏神農氏 shénnóngshì Farmer God of the god of agriculture.

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The “Discussions of Secrecy” [?]背後 bèihòu behind sb's back 通 tōng communicate bai hu tong   白虎通白 bái white 虎 hǔ tiger 通 tōng communicate The “White Tiger Discussions”say:云 yún (classical) to say yun   云云 yún (classical) to say say:Stubborn [are]固執 gùzhí obstinate, stubborn gu zhi   古之古 gǔ old 之 zhī him, it Of oldthe people,人民 rénmín people renmin   人民人民 rénmín people the people,known [to be]結識 jiéshí to get to know sb jie shi   皆食皆 jiē all 食 shí food, eat all atebrutal beasts禽獸 qínshòu beast (brutal person) qin shou   禽獸禽獸 qínshòu birds and animals bird and animalin semblance.若 ruò to seem, like, as, if rou   肉肉 ròu meat, flesh flesh.If you meet值遇 zhíyù to meet with, to bump into zhi yu   至於至於 zhìyú as for, as to [But] as forthe multitudes of peasants,甡 shēn multitude 農 nóng peasant shen nong   神農神農 shénnóng Farmer God of the god of agriculture,use用 yòng use yong   用用 yòng use he [then] usedof sweetness甜 tián sweet tian   天天 tiān sky, heaven of the heavens 之 zhī him, it zhi   之之 zhī him, it  an appearance,勢 shì influence, outward appearance shi   時時 shí time the times [seasons?],separate分 fēn divide, separate fen   分分 fēn divide, separate to separate[from] the true諦 dì truth di   地地 dì earth, ground, field of the ground 之 zhī him, it zhi   之之 zhī him, it  power,力 lì power, force li   利利 lì advantage, benefit, profit the profits [harvests?],make [yourself]製 zhì make zhi   製製 zhì make [he] madesimilar,類似 lèisì similar lei si   耒耜耒耜 lěisì plow the plow,feign [to be]矯 jiǎo pretend, feign jiao   教教 jiāo teach [and] taughta person民 mín people min   民民 mín people the peopleof the countryside農 nóng peasant, agriculture nong   農農 nóng peasant, agriculture of the countrysideto do it.作 zuò do zuo   作作 zuò do [how] to do it.[Your] spirit神 shén God, deity, spirit shen   神神 shén God, deity, spirit The godthus而 ér and, but, and so er   而而 ér and, but, and so butchanges化 huà change into hua   化化 huà change into changedinto it [?]之 zhī him, it zhi   之之 zhī him, it into it [?],[to] let使 shǐ make, cause shi   使使 shǐ make, cause letthe people民 mín people min   民民 mín people the peoplebe suppressed,抑制 yìzhì suppress, keep down yi zhi   宜之宜 yí proper 之 zhī him, it properly [use] it,that is why故 gù reason, cause, therefore gu   故故 gù reason, cause, therefore therefore[one] fakes帷 wéi curtain, screen 偽 wěi false, fake wei   謂謂 wèi speak, say, name [was] named[to be] of之 zhī him, it zhi   之之 zhī him, it hethe multitudes of peasants.甡 shēn multitude 農 nóng peasant shen nong   神農神農 shénnóng Farmer God god of agriculture.

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